Police Pick Up Suspected Anti-Muslim Filmmaker

The man behind the anti-Muslim film The Innocence of Muslims, which sparked international controversy, has spoken with local probation officers, reports NBC News. Nakoula Besseley Nakoula, who was picked up by authorities at his Southern California home shortly after midnight Saturday morning, has told reporters that he is not the director of the incendiary film, but evidence suggests he was involved.

L.A. County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore confirmed to NBCLA that Nakoula, 55, was taken to the Cerritos sheriff's station for interviewing by federal probation officers aimed at determining whether he violated the terms of his 5-year probation by uploading a video to the Internet ...

Whitmore added that Nakoula, who has denied involvement in the film in a phone call to his Coptic Christian bishop, agreed to the interview prior to the deputies arriving at his home, that the move was "entirely voluntary" and the man was "very cooperative."

Nakoula has told the Associated Press he was not the director on the film, but rather a logistics manager. The film's mystery producer has been said to go by the pseudonym Sam Bacile.

A telephone number said to belong to Bacile, given to Reuters by U.S.-based Coptic Christian activist Morris Sadek who said he had promoted the film, was later traced back to a person who shares the Nakoula residence.